Started up the computer today and the DVD drive is missing from My Computer.

Device manager displays a yellow ! next to
Secondary IDE Controller (dual info )

Reinstalled the driver and yellow ! disappeared but DVD did nor show up.
The yellow ! reappears on every new boot up after driver reinstalled.

Installed a new DVD drive but no luck in it appearing either.

Did a SFC.exe and all appeared okay.

Ran MSD.exe and it does not show the DVD drive.

F1 at IBM logo, and going to disk drives it shows CDrom3 and gives details
as
size installed
local bus IDE mode High performance

HWinfo.exe shows the DVD drive installed at IDE2 as master which is
correct. It also displays the correct model number.

Have checked all cables for seating.
On boot up the DVD light flashes briefly and passes POST.

The Aptiva 2142, 1998 model, is the one with the DVD and Floppy in a console
under the monitor, not in the main tower.

Any ideas why the DVD drive will not show up.

Hi Basil !

I have some ideas, but I really think it might be faster to re-install
Win98SE.

I'm going to assume that this computer has not had a configuration change by
you in forever, and it was working perfectly well for quite some time until
you started it up and were presented with this problem.

I once had a computer do exactly the same thing I was repairing for someone.
The optical drive had "shorted out", and the secondary IDE channel was
disabled.

I see that you have installed another drive, and the problem was the same.
Are you CERTAIN the drive(s) are good, or that you didn't get the cable
backwards ?

If you boot up the computer with nothing on the secondary IDE channel, does
it show up OK ?

( I assume this drive is seen in BIOS ? )

By the way....

...don't do a "re-install" of Windows. Format and start from scratch.

Now would be a good time to partition that drive so that you can save your
data to drives other than the C: drive if you haven't done that already.
:-)

bobwatts

"Robert E. Watts" nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:1c217$48837d93$4ad76274$8511@FUSE.NET...

Bob many thanks for your thoughts.

Booted it up this morning to get all settings before I change anything and
got this on screen
1762 Configuration change:- further screen says HD3 not installable. This is
where DVD drive is installed.
5962 Configuration change:- further screen says disk drive hd3 not installed
113 System Board error:- further screen says Plug and Play audio
controller (enabled )

Hi Basil !

Inserting comments as I go....

"Basil Holloway" bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:HPPgk.21263$IK1.16591@news-

OK, so the "errors" are piling on.....

Hi Basil

In article news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
farl7FAKE@bigpond.com says...

Thanks guys for replies.
Every thing I tried using IDE2 it failed on boot up but leaving it empty all
was okay except for audio as previously reported.
Here is then what I did.
Dismantled computer and cleaned everything, contacts, slots etc.
Took battery out for one day and put a new battery in.
Only installed one hard drive as master on IDE1 and the old DVD drive on
IDE1 as slave. Could not install the DVD sound wires as I would have needed
one 12 foot long. Please remember the DVD drive along with the floppy drive
is normally installed in a special console under the monitor with its two
built in Bose speakers.
Booted off floppy disk and formatted HD and partitioned it and installed a
brand new copy of W98SE.
On reboot, after fixing date and time it booted up to the W98SE desktop and
I had sound and no errors on device manager.
Did a couple more more cold and hot boots and all okay.
The sound is working, before must have been dirty contacts. One thing I
notice, it is not clear and sharp like it was before, there are strange
occasional hisses, clunks and dings in the background. Cannot test an audio
cd as DVD drive not wired up for it. ...

Following UZnal's post to Tim re a PC300GL on the CSIPH ng, I rembered I had
a diagnostic cd for the 2142 Aptiva.
Rummaging around I found it and the test on the secondary IDE controller
gave a result " Identify Command Failed "

Thanks again guys.

Basil

Hi Basil !

"Basil Holloway" bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:w_uhk.21786$IK1.16530@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

OK, but that is still an unusual problem. The same chip controls both the
primary and secondary IDE channels, so there might be something that can be
fixed.

As Cheers has suggested, there could be a physical reason for this. I was
assuming software previously.

"Robert E. Watts" nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:5738b$48871a6c$4ad76274$6436@FUSE.NET...